The animal documentary

Documentaries are always in abundance. Filmmakers set to prove or disprove a topic, educate and eye-open. They can be interesting, beautiful or controversial. They can change a person’s life or way of thinking. Documentaries are not new in the animal rights arena. There are on the big screen, on-line, on DVD and on Netflix. There are films showing the horrors animals suffer like Earthlings, Meet your Meat and The Cove. There are films like multiple Film Festival award-winner Vegucated, which follows three people on a life-changing discovery.

These documentaries are making people think, they are changing minds and I am happy to report three new animal documentaries exposing the truth about our relationship with animals. I urge everyone to view as many as you can, those listed above and below.

Sometimes you have to see it, hear it and feel it to make the connection.

Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity at Sea World. The documentary illustrates the nature of killer whales, the chase that leads to their capture and the cruel treatment they are sentenced to for decades only to fuel the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry.

Veteran documentary filmmaker, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, calls Blackfish her labor of tough love. “I can’t say this was an easy film to make. For two years we were bombarded with terrifying facts, autopsy reports, sobbing interviewees, and unhappy animals – a place diametrically opposite to its carefully refined image. But as I moved forward, I knew that we had a chance to fix some things that had come unraveled along the way. And that all I had to do was tell the truth.”

Blackfish world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2013, appeared at True/False 2013 and the Miami Film Festival 2013. It is now playing at the Spectrum in Albany.

The Ghosts in Our Machine follows acclaimed animal photographer, Jo-Anne McArthur, over the course of one year as she photographs animals and their stories in parts of the United States, Canada and Europe. Each story shown in the documentary is a window into global animal industries: Research, Food, Fashion and Entertainment. The film poses the following question: “Are non-human animals property to be owned and used, or are they sentient beings deserving of rights?”

“The connection that I have to animals while I’m photographing them is one of empathy. There is a huge mistreatment and inequality between human and non-human animals, and that’s always in the forefront of my mind.” – Jo-Anne McArthur

The Ghosts in Our Machine appeared at HOT DOCS Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto and 6 other Canadian Film Festivals. The film will be released in the US this month and in Europe in October.

Speciesism: The Movie sets out to uncover a secret modern farms are struggling to keep concealed. Director Mark Devries sets out to investigate the “giant, bizarre factories, hidden deep in remote areas of the countryside” that United States food animals are raised in. Devries takes viewers on an adventure to enter and expose these factories and come “face-to-face with their owners.” The leaders of the developing speciesism movement are interviewed in this film to lay out their purpose of exposing the term meaning the “assumption of human superiority.”

Speciesism: The Movie, whose tag-line reads: You’ll never look at animals the same way again. Especially Humans, premiers in New York City and selected theatres across the US beginning on September 26.

Nicole M. Arciello

5 Responses

I saw Blackfish at the Spectrum last Friday. It is definitely a must-see for anyone that has been to Sea World and/or that thinks that the imprisonment of these animals is okay. Very informative and well done, I learned a lot from watching it.

I saw Blackfish Saturday evening. It’s really disturbing, but everyone should see it – particularly those of us who’ve been there with our kids and people who are contemplating going. I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout for the film, and I’m fairly sure most of us were unaware of the torment these animals are forced to endure. I’m looking forward to both “The Ghosts in Our Machine” and “Speciesism”. I don’t know how these film makers do what they do. It has got to be gut-wrenching to watch the mis-treatment of animals, yet, I so admire and applaud them for doing it. They are doing a great service for those who can’t speak for themselves.

I’m not sure I will stomach any of these films, but I will certainly think about it. I deal with blood and guts on FB, Change.org, Care2, and Yahoo most days. I’m desperately trying to make a more significant difference in the lives of animals. They don’t deserve the horrors thrust upon them by (blanks).

Those of us in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area are very fortunate to have Blackfish showing at a local theatre. If the film is playing in your area, don’t miss it! This documentary is about Tilikum, the orca that killed not once but three times. The multi-billion dollar entertainment corporation-SeaWorld-attempted a “cover up” and continue to this very day to hold Tilikum captive (in isolation). All of the SeaWorld-owned killer whales exist day after day in conditions that are unsuitable for the massive animals. These extremely intelligent, highly-social sentient beings, with an emotional component to their lives that rivals that of humans, are “living” YEARS in literal torment at SeaWorld facilities, just so the giant corporation can amass millions via the tickets sold to the spectators of the “Shamu” show and exhibition.
Please see the film, and encourage others to do the same. Please be their voice.

I, for one, was very happy to read about a 10% drop in attendance at Sea World in 2013, and I hope it was due (in part) to the documentary Blackfish, one of the most praised movies of the year according to Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Orcas can live up to 90 years in the wild. In an aquarium, their dorsal fins droop over and sag similar to a dog’s ear, and they only live a few decades (at most), in horrible conditions. The practice of killing orcas in capitivity must end, once and for all time. Zoos and aquariums are good for the survival of some animals, such as elephants, rhinos, polar bears, giant pandas, and condors who chances in the wild are becoming less and less. For orcas, however, keeping them in goldfish size fish tanks is a terrible idea, that must end and soon.

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